The Great Flood
by Luvisia
Summary: **Currently on hiatus.** Pre-WW. The 100th anniversary of Hyrule's liberation from Ganon's seven-year regin is at hand. The peace is about to be shattered, however. Rated T to be safe.


**A/N: Dedicated to my good friends and RP buddies over at the LoZ RPing Forum. I hope that you all enjoy it.**

_This is but one of the legends of which the people speak..._

_Long ago, there existed a kingdom where a golden power lay hidden. It was a prosperous land blessed with green forests, tall mountains, and peace. But one day, a man of great evil found the golden power and took it for himself. With its strength at his command, he spread darkness across the kingdom. But then, when all hope had died, and the hour of doom seemed at hand, a young boy clothed in green appeared as if from nowhere. Wielding the blade of evil's bane, he sealed the dark one away and gave the land light. This boy, who traveled through time to save the land, was known as the Hero of Time. The boy's tale was passed down through generations until it became legend. _

_But then... a day came when a fell wind began to blow across the kingdom. The great evil that all thought had been sealed away by the hero once again crept forth from the earth, eager to resume its dark designs. The people believed that the Hero of Time would again come to save them... but the hero did not appear. Faced by an onslaught of evil, the people could do nothing but appeal to the gods. In their last hour, as doom drew nigh, they left their future in the hands of fate._

_What became of that kingdom...? _

**Chapter 1: Sands of Blood**

Her final descision was made in the midst of a sandstorm.

Nabooru of the Gerudo had been a fine queen to her tribe after Ganondorf's fall. The kind Leader of the Sages, Princess Zelda, had come to a truce with the Gerudo, and she had given them land for agriculture so that they had no need of the art of theft. This had eased the relationship between the two races, and being a good friend of the Princess, Nabooru had gained her tribe many advantages previously denied to them under the rule of their king. Still, the woman couldn't help but believe that Ganondorf had done his people a good deed - by murdering the previous King of Hyrule, he had cleared the way for Zelda to take the throne, and her rule improved their way of life.

That had been 100 years prior to this day, however. After the death of Queen Zelda, her daughter had ascended the throne as her rightful heir. She had married a young nobleman named Daphnes Nohansen, who then became king through marriage. It had been a poor choice on the second Zelda's behalf. Daphnes was a power-hungry man who had gained rule over the Gerudo Desert and Zora's Domain with his conniving ways. He had murdered three Sages, possibly five, including the Queen. Despite Daphnes' insistance that Queen Zelda II died a natural death, Nabooru refused to believe him. She had been in poor health, to tell the truth, but the circumstances surrounding her death were all too suspicious.

While his own race, the Hylians, lived in prosperity, the Gerudo and Zora were reduced to all but slaves. Gerudo women were forced to work in labor camps, making glass and weaving Hylian clothing out of their special cloth. Daphnes had since reclaimed the land the first queen had given them, rendering it barely impossible for them to surrvive their harsh environment. Nabooru could do nothing for her people, and it disgusted her to her very core. She could only watch as they endured the harsh labor, the sun's heat, and fought against the Hylian soldiers that were apt to try and rape them.

Their suffering and ruin deeply disturbed Nabooru. For once, she understood how Ganondorf must have felt, being a king helpless to improve the lives of his people. That was why she had come to this final descison. It was a desprate move on her part, but she could only hope that she was making the right choice.

Nabooru gazed up at the smooth stone face of the Sand Goddess, ignoring the dull roar of the sandstorm that raged outside the walls of the Spirit Temple. She closed her deep gold eyes, mummuring a quiet prayer for forgiveness to the great goddess as she kneeled down on the stone altar before the statue. Slightly trembling at what she was about to do, the Gerudo called upon the gods.

"Gods of the Triforce, hear my plea. Hyrule is once more plunged into darkness, this time by your chosen race. I beg of you to weaken the binds that restrain our former king, Ganondorf, and allow him to aid the daughters of Din!"

The torches that illuminated the sanctuary flickered, as if a breath of wind had disturbed them. Nabooru's ears were suddenly filled with the sound of three elemental voices, rich and vibrant with power.

_Nabooru, Sage of Spirit, we have no authority over Ganon's binds. The Sages banished him to the Evil Realm. It is the Sages who must release him. We realize the threat that Din's chosen bearer poses to our land; is your need of Power that great?_

Nabooru's face fell. "I am afraid it is, Holy Three. The current King of Hyrule forces us to suffer under his reign. Wisdom is under his infulence, and Courage has been divided into eight. I am left with no alternative other than to summon Power. I realize that there will be consequences. Please imbue me with the strength to release Ganondorf."

The Goddesses were silent for a moment, as if judging Nabooru's plea.

_We are opposed to this decison, but the ultimate choice is left to Din. Din, what say you?_

A single voice, which sounded like liquid fire, answered. _My son is uncontrollable. If you are to release him, it is you who must return him to the Evil Realm. Are you willing to undertake this responsibility?_

Nabooru wouldn't allow herself to reconsider. She wasn't going to lose this battle. "I am, Din."

The three voices again joined as one.

_It is decided, then..._

_Do not betray your responsibilites, Nabooru..._

Nabooru felt the old magic run through her veins, the power of the Sages combined. She recited the words she thought most appropriate to undo the enchantment, and raised her arms to the air.

The torches flickered once more, and the sandstorm ceased. Nabooru's eyes widened as she heard a beast-like roar echo throughout the night. Her whole body trembled in fear and awe.

"Ganondorf... has returned..."

-S-

"Would you hear that, the sandstorm is finally over. Now would you take your leave?"

A Gerudo named Zira glared at the Hylian soldiers who populated the common room area of Gerudo Fortress. The rowdy men had entered the room when the storm had started. They were not pleasant company, and most of the women feared that they would try something despciable during their stay. It was not uncommon for these soldiers to go raping them and pillage what little food and water they had while they had reason to be in the Fortress. Their last stay had ended in the burning of half their tapestries.

"Filthy pigs," she muttered to her friend Nayya, whose lip curled in agreement.

The woman who had first spoken, an elder named Jocasta, again tried to call over the cacophony. "Hylians, the sandstorm is over. You have no need of Gerudo Fortress any longer."

One of the soldiers, a captain named Rolf, stood from his seat, eyeing Jocasta. "We have no need of the shelter any longer, but we certainly do enjoy the company," he chuckled drunkenly.

Zira gripped the edge of her chair, her knuckles turning white. "How dare he speak to an elder that way? I'd love nothing more than to gut him right now..." Nayya, too, glared at Rolf, her red eyebrows narrowed in loathing.

Suddenly, their thoughts were interrupted by a hair-raising roar that echoed from deep in the desert. The Hylian soldiers were abruptly quiet. Another roar, possibly the hunting cry of a fell beast, reached their ears. Jocasta's eyes grew wide, and she gasped.

"_He_ has returned, my sisters!"

A ripple of whispers came from the Gerudo, and their recations were varied. Some of the women bore expressions of absolute terror, while other's faces broke into fanged grins, and they smirked knowingly at the soldiers, as if justice had just been served on a silver platter.

Rolf, whose pupils had shrunken considerably at the chilling noise, frowned. "He? Who is he? What do you know that we don't?"

Jocasta smiled slightly. "Our former king. It is his voice you heard mere seconds ago, Captain Rolf. Or have you not heard the legends?"

Rolf ran a hand through his short brown hair, glaring at each Gerudo with bloodshot eyes. "You're all crazy, you women are. Don't think that you can instill fear in us with your little magic tricks. There's no way in hell that's... he's just a bedtime story to scare children..." Already, the captain seemed to doubt his own slurred words.

Jocasta's face darkened. "There is but one way you can be sure we are lying."

"What's that?"

"Go and have a look-see for yourself. Or are you and your men too cowardly?"

Rolf's face twisted in anger, and he took another swig of ale. "Of course not! Com'on, boys, let's go show these women they have no clue what they're talking about."

A few of the soldiers were hesitant to rise from their seats, but all of them obeyed their captain's command. They grabbed their weapons and shields, taking a few torches with them to light their path through the dark dunes of the desert. When the last soldier had left the room, Jocasta sighed heavily.

"Jocasta Yuma," Naaya spoke, adressing the elder with the title that befitted her, "Are your words true? Does our king live?"

Jocasta gave the curious girl a half-smile. "Indeed, Naaya. I almost wish it weren't so... but be sure that he will unleash his wrath upon those soldiers... and hopefully not us."

Zira and Nayya gave each other glances, both of their tanned faces alight with anticipation and fear.

-S-

Captain Rolf exited Gerudo Fortress with a company of ten soldiers, all of them quite drunk, and some even stumbling. His sharp green eyes attempted to peirce the veil of darkness that surrounded them, and he raised the torch he held above his head.

"We'll split into three groups. Jesse, you can command John, Arnold and Sarren, and Vanlem, I want you to take Hans and Tres. The rest of you are coming with me."

He pointed his torch to the east and directed the first group to go that way. The second group headed towards the west. Rolf's own group went north, towards the Haunted Wastelands.

The only sound that could be heard for some time was the crunching and shifting of sand under their heavy steel boots. Just as the captain was positve the roaring heard from within the Fortress was merely an illusion cast by the Gerudo sorceresses, a high-pitched scream cut through the still night air and sent chills over the Hylians' skin.

"What in Naryu's name was that?" one of the soldiers choked out. His bloodshot blue eyes were the size of saucers, and Rolf could hear the rattle of his armor as he shook with fright.

"It's those damned women. They're playing games with our heads," Rolf replied, feeling somewhat more alert and sobered by the scream. Just as the first scream faded into the distance, the shouts and cries of men were audible for miles.

"That isn't the sound of any women, Rolf!" the second soldier in his company replied. Abe was a burly, imposing man from the province of Ordona, and seeing him scared made Rolf uneasy.

"If you cowards wish to turn back, so be it," Rolf said, gathering his courage. "I'll be damned if I'll tarnish my honor because of some foolish prank insinuated by desert rats!"

Abe frowned at Rolf, and the other soldier let out a shaking breath that was outlined against the chill night air.

"I will respect your authority as Captain," Abe replied slowly, "and continue to search for the perpetrators. But if that old Gerudo was right, and Ganon comes chasing our hides, you won't see hide or hair of me, for I'll not stay by your side and fight."

The lines in Rolf's face drew tight, and he nodded. "So be it."

As they continued their search for the supposed pranksters, the soldiers were haunted by screams and cries to the east, and then the west. The younger soldier, Benard, became so frightened that he begged Rolf permission to return to Gerudo Fortress.

"You can go back, ya filthy coward," Rolf spat, throwing a spare match to the young man for his torch. "Be certain that I'll not have you serve under me after this."

Bernard said not a word, but sifted through the sand for the match and ran back to the Fortress as fast as his armor-clad legs would carry him.

"Young people these days... they haven't a clue of what war's like..." Rolf told Abe, who seemed to reply with a strangled grunt. His mind flitted back to the past. Times when his father, a vetran of the Seven Years' War, would tell him about his battle experiences, how hard he pushed his son to train...

A light breeze caught the the captain's attention. It was warm, but carried the tangy, metallic scent of blood on its breath. Rolf quirked an eyebrow in confusion. "You smell that, Abe?" There was no answer from his burly partner. "...Hoy, Abe?"

He whirled around to where he thought Abe to be, and his torch cut through the darkness. Nobody was there. "Damn deserter..." Another gust of air came, much closer and of a stronger stench. Rolf froze. That wasn't a breeze... it now came from an opposite direction...

He turned slowly on his heel, and dropped the torch into the sand. It spluttered for a brief second, and went out.

He had failed to notice that the sand it now lay upon was stained crimson.

-S-

The women and children of Gerudo Fortress were huddled together within the sandstone walls. Young girls who had been wakened by the screams and roars emenating from the desert now clung to their mothers. Eyes of varying browns and golds were all wide and alert. Each time another scream was heard, the girls would whimper, and their mothers, who had the same fear, would stroke their red hair and hum lullabys and comforting words under their breath.

A sound like hammerfall interrupted the silence of the Fortress. Each woman looked to the one nearest them, wondering who had the courage to open the entranceway doors for whomever was knocking. Finally, after the third barrage of frantic knocks, Naaya stood and hesitantly opened the door.

A young Hylian soldier, battered and bruised, ran into the Fortress, eyes wild with emotion, as if he'd faced Death itself. Little girls screamed, and women drew away from the ghastly man. He turned to Nayya. "Close the doors, close them!" he begged shrilly. She obeyed him and slammed the great stone doors shut.

"What in Din's Fire...?"

"Oh gods..."

"It's true!"

The barely-contained whispers of the Gerudo echoed throughout the common room. All eyes were on the soldier, all were expectant of answers.

He took a much-needed break, hands on his knees as he bent over double, panting as a small animal might if chased by a predator. After a minute, the young man made his way to an empty chair, and slumped into it. All the women who had been near drew away from his shaking frame. Finally, the young soldier coughed, splattering blood onto his front, and spoke his first intelligable words:

"Ganon _is_ back."

Murmurs of the Gerudo swept the room, and Jocasta stood. "Silence, my sisters. How have you come about your injuries? What of the other soldiers?"

He wheezed, raising a ganulet-clad hand to his chest, and proceeded to answer her second inquiry. "I think he's killed them all. I was in Rolf's group, we were heading north. We heard screaming from the directions of where the other soldiers were. I... I was frightened, and came back here. I heard Rolf screaming soon after I left." The soldier trembled, and continued. "That- that beast- it caught up with me, and it nearly killed me. I think most of my ribs are broken." He let out an agonized cough. "It became distracted though, and I managed to reach the Fortress before it came after me..."

Jocasta closed her amber eyes, her aged face bearing sorrow. She knew this young man through word of mouth, and he was a kind soldier who did not partake in the vulgarity of the others. She also knew that he might not surrvive his grave injuries. "Thank you for recounting this tale. Sabera, Naja, please take him to the infirmary."

Two Gerudo moved to help the soldier out of his seat, but ceased their movements upon a thunderous slam on the entranceway door. The roar of a hunter denied its prey sounded from behind the thick stone.

The young man squirmed in his seat, face drained of color. "No, he's come to kill me! I don't want to die, Miss! Please don't let me die," he whimpered.

The slamming continued for several minutes; dust fell from the ceiling, and the door even gained spider-like cracks over its smooth surface. Then, without warning, it stopped. The women looked to each other like caged animals, and the young soldier refused to relax his grip on Naja's arm.

The strained silence was broken by a voice that emnated pure Power.

"My sisters..." it began, slow and delibrate in each syllable. "You know very well who I am. You also must know that I desire the life of that cowering soldier who hides behind your walls for protection. He and his kind have brought suffering and cruelty to my tribe," he paused, letting the words sink into each woman's heart, "And with that action, he must suffer the consequences. Do you deny it?"

The women were silent, contemplating what they should do. Ganondorf's words rang true to most of their rounded ears - how did this mere boy, a Hylian, deserve any kindness from them? Still, other women were hesitant to hand him over, knowing well that his fate was a horrible one.

Jocasta looked over to the soldier. His blue eyes were glittering with unshed tears by now, and they cried out to her, a silent plea for mercy. She mentally asked forgivness to the goddesses for the action she was about to take. Unwillingly, she averted her own amber eyes, and spoke:

"We do not deny it, my king. So is the way of things."

She glanced at Sabera and Naja, and they nodded. Both women stepped forwards, and they shifted aside the barricade holding the door shut. Then, they pulled open the doors.

Ganondorf Dragmire stepped into the glow of the torchlight, his black-clad frame separating from the shadows of the night, and his sunset eyes gleaming with a feral light.

"I knew that you would see reason, sisters. Where is my warm welcome?"

The Gerudo were silent, and the only sound in the entire chamber was the pathetic cries of the young Hylian soldier, who knew that he had just been sentenced to doom.

Ganondorf ignored their silence, and stepped into the center of the room. His eyes roamed over the walls of the common room, and lingered on the tapestries, which had been burnt a month earlier, for a moment. They then settled on the soldier, and all saw the rage that was present in them. The Hylian clung to his seat, trembling in absolute terror.

Despite the dark glare present on his countance, Ganondorf casually began to speak to his victim. "What's your name, boy?" he asked the soldier. He was quiet. "Do you have family?" Still, no answer. "Very well, if you've no last words, come along. I won't have you frightening the children with all the bleeding you're sure to be doing."

Ganondorf raised a hand, and the soldier was sent flying out of his seat. He landed at the Gerudo King's feet, and Ganondorf effortlessly picked him up and threw him out of doors.

"I will be back shortly to discuss the matter of my return with _Nabooru_. I expect her to be here by the time I am finished with this one." He let out a soft chuckle of amusement, feral eyes flicking to the doors. "Don't fret... she will have plenty of time to return."

With that last word, he exited the Fortress, and the doors were slammed shut behind him by some invisible force. It wasn't long before the screaming began again.

*** The Seven Years' War was the war against Ganondorf 100 years prior to this story, in Ocarina of Time.**

*** Also, Gerudo call their elders "Yuma". Equals are called "Kama", those of lesser rank are addressed as "Sett". They're just fomalities :)**

**A/N: So, this is the beginning of a sort of novelization of The Great Flood, an RP over at the LoZ RPing Forum. I decided to change my ideas and direction a bit, you might say a bit radically. Daphnes has always been a major prick in my eyes, so it's only natural to make him the real 'bad guy' of the story. That doesn't mean Gannydorfs is good, but I guess just the lesser evil. Obviously, didn't you just read this chapter? O_o**

**Of course, I'm not using other people's OCs, unless I get a request to add an OC. In that case, there might be quite a few of them. Fortuna and Demios will not be in this story (Nabooru is still Sage of Spirit, durrr). Other LoZ characters like Vaati will make cameos; so on, so forth. **

**Now you know why the 5th chapter of TAoD isn't up yet. But would you believe me if I said I wrote this last night and today? I tend to write chapters quickly, it's just getting around to writing them that takes me forever...**

**This is my first true try at suspense, and probably the lengthiest chapter I've ever written, so I hope you enjoyed it. ^^;**

**((I really feel like an evil bitch for killing off that poor soldier...))**


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